Representation: World
English tenor Jeremy Ovenden is acknowledged as one of the world's finest interpreters of Mozart who has collaborated on stage and in the recording studio with Daniel Barenboim, Fabio Biondi, Ivor Bolton, Myung-Whun Chung, Alessandro De Marchi, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, René Jacobs, Ton Koopman, Marc Minkowski, Riccardo Muti, Sir Simon Rattle and many other leading interpreters.
Projects in recent seasons include Britten's War Requiem with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra under Philippe Herreweghe and its Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with the Bamberg Philharmonic, Mozart's Zaide with the Munich Radio Orchestra under Rinaldo Alessandrini, Mozart's Requiem with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Bernard Labadie, Bach's Christmas Oratorio in Bergen and Stavanger and the title role in Mozart's Idomeneo at the Teatro Real in Madrid. Jeremy Ovenden performed Haydn's Harmoniemesse No. 14 in B flat major (Hob: XXII) under the baton of Fabio Biondi at the Herbstgold Festival in Eisenstadt and, together with Jonathan Cohen and his Arcangelo Ensemble, Handel's Theodora at the Vienna Konzerthaus. On the opera stage he is particularly in demand for Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito, whose title role he embodied in various new productions at the Theater an der Wien as well as at the opera houses in Rennes, Nantes and Angers. On the concert stage, Jeremy’s engagements include Handel’s Messiah at the Wiener Musikverein, Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Orquesta y Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid as well as Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.
Further highlights of his career to date include Britten's Serenade and his War Requiem with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Mozart's Requiem at the Edinburgh International Festival and the BBC Proms under Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Haydn's The Seasons with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Andrew Manze, the Gabrieli Consort under Paul McCreesh and with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Sir Simon Rattle.
Jeremy Ovenden's concert repertoire also includes works such as Mendelssohn's Elijah and The First Walpurgis Night, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, Edward Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius and Hector Berlioz's L'enfance du Christ. He appeared as soloist under the direction of René Jacobs in Handel's oratorios Saul, Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno and La Resurrezione. With works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Jeremy Ovenden took part as soloist in Christmas Oratorio with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski, as Evangelist in the St Matthew Passion with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, as Evangelist in the St John Passion with the WDR Symphony Orchestra and as tenor (arias) in the St Matthew Passion with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Ivor Bolton.
On the opera stage, Jeremy sang Mozart’s Lucio Silla for La Monnaie in Brussels, Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) at the Edinburgh Festival and the Staatsoper Berlin, Ferrando (Così fan tutte) at Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Bayerische Staatsoper and in Aix-en-Provence, and Tito in La clemenza di Tito for both Théâtre Capitole de Toulouse and Teatro Real Madrid. Further appearances include Nerone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea and the title role in L‘Orfeo; Bajazet in Handel’s Tamerlano; Tigrane in Radamisto; Grimoaldo in Rodelinda and Jupiter in Semele, as well as Belfiore in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera. he has been invited to sing the title role of Idomeneo by leading international theatres and festivals such as Theater an der Wien, Teatro Real de Madrid and the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York.
After a new production of Handel's Partenope at the Teatro Real in Madrid, he appeared in Handel's Messiah at the Vienna Musikverein, in Bach's Mass in B Minor with the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España under David Afkham, and in Bach's St Matthew Passion with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Jan Willem de Vriend. With the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra under René Jacobs he gave guest performances of Handel's Israel in Egypt in Freiburg and Paris. In the current season Jeremy Ovenden can be heard with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony conducted by Vladimir Jurowksi and with the Danish Sønderjylland Symphony Orchestra as well as with the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn in the role of the Evangelist in Bach's St. John Passion. Prior to this, Jeremy Ovenden will appear with Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset as Tamino in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Gstaad-Menuhin-Festival and the Festival Berlioz in La Côte-Saint-André. At the Händel-Festspiele Göttingen 2023, Jeremy Ovenden will eventually take over the part of Jupiter and Apollo in Handel’s stage oratorio Semele conducted by George Petrou.
Jeremy’s extensive discography includes Bach’s St Mark Passion and St John Passion and Cantatas; Handel’s Saul; Haydn’s The Seasons and The Creation; Mozart’s Il sogno di Scipione; La Betulia liberata; La finta semplice; L'oca del Cairo and Lo sposo deluso. His solo album of Mozart arias with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment led by Jonathan Cohen prompted David Carins of “The Sunday Times” to comment: “Ovenden’s attractive, bright tenor…his rhythm, diction and easy flexibility of voice are exemplary”.
Jeremy Ovenden studied with Norman Bailey and Neil Mackie at The Royal College of Music, London and privately with Nicolai Gedda.
2022 | 2023
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Joseph Haydn: The Seasons
Carolyn Sampson, Jeremy Ovenden, Andrew Foster-Williams
Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra, Gabrieli Consort & Players | National Forum of Music Choir
Conductor: Paul McCreesh
Label: NFM / Signum | 2017
Georg Friedrich Händel: Saul
Rosemary Joshua, Emma Bell, Lawrence Zazzo, Jeremy Ovenden, Michael Slattery, Finnur Bjarnason, Henry Waddington, Gidon Saks
Concerto Köln | RIAS Kammerchor
Conductor: René Jacobs
Label: Harmonia Mundi | 2015
Georg Friedrich Händel: L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato
Gillian Webster, Laurence Kilsby, Jeremy Ovenden, Peter Harvey, Ashley Riches, William Whitehead
Gabrieli Consort & Players
Conductor: Paul McCreesh
Label: Signum | 2015
Joseph Haydn: The Creation
Sarah Tynan, Jeremy Ovenden, Matthew Brook
Handel and Haydn Society
Conductor: Harry Christophers
Label: Coro | 2015